A Chicago Cook County Jail chaplain and mass-incarceration sociologist examines the lifelong realities of a criminal record, demonstrating how America's justice system is less about rehabilitation and more about structured disenfranchisement.

"95 percent of the men and women who go to prison are eventually released. But then what? A gripping work of immersion reporting for readers of Evicted and Maid, Free shines a spotlight on the rollercoaster of re-entry: the exuberance of freedom, the rules and regulations that make you feel like you're still in prison, the often dispiriting work of looking for employment and housing, and more. Veteran reporter Lauren Kessler follows six individuals...